Hi. My name is Amy Atwell. I am a teller of stories. You might have seen Part 1 of this blog two weeks ago, where I discussed my journey to publication and my realization that while the format of books may change, the concept of story remains the same. That realization had a big impact [...]
A year ago, I nearly gave up writing. I’d fallen prey to the negativity surrounding the tectonic shifts in the publishing industry, and at the time, I was sure there would never be a way to earn a living as an author. Who was I kidding? I would be far better off out of the [...]
Yes, we’re writers, but we’re readers first. Part of the reason I wanted to write was to give others the transporting experience I’ve had, reading a wonderful book, and ‘waking up’ hours later, unaware of my surroundings. Or consciously slowing down, toward the end of a book, just so I won’t be done. Yes, I [...]
I have been toying with the concept of “who is my readership” and where do I find them? You might believe that once you come to “The End” and congratulate yourself for a job well done, your next task is merely to find an agent, publisher or venue to capture your words between the covers. [...]
Publish or perish, the anthem of academia is also the bane of our existence. Today, I want to play with the juxtaposition of words. Doubt and worry for instance, or if you prefer … worry and doubt. I do these two very well and can extemporaneously drop a few hundred words defining my particular flavors [...]
When I learned that the first RWA-WF critique training would take place during my son’s season-ending baseball tournament in Orlando, Florida, I considered waiting until the next one came along to participate. However, as the emails to join the training kept arriving in my inbox, I decided to carve out some “me” time during our [...]
“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.” –Ursula K. LeGuin I write alone. I sit at a very messy, old wooden desk that I inherited from a surveying concern in Perth, Ontario, and I write. [...]
Every writer dreams of getting The Call. I can’t think of a single writing friend immune to this phenomenon. When it happens, it IS great. But what comes next? This is the one question I never thought to ask. After I received The Call on April 21, I expected to be bombarded by emails and [...]
I was doing my version of a walkabout. Yeah, I know the Queen of England does walkabouts, so what makes me think I’m so special? I’m not. It’s simply how I describe those few moments I grab with gusto, moments away from writing, family stuff or people stuff. Anyway, I was in the grocery store, [...]
My summer home is a cottage on the east coast of Georgian Bay. Weather permitting, I swim laps across our small bay for an hour. Before I hit the water, I don my wetsuit. That’s right, a wetsuit. Why should a tough Canadian need a wussy wetsuit? We’re all polar bears, right? Um, not so [...]